


I (Am Not A) Robot

by locrianrose



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, cyberpunk genre au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27587848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/locrianrose/pseuds/locrianrose
Summary: Edelgard didn’t speak for a long moment. Her words were stiff and formal when she continued.“We all have choices that we don’t get to make for ourselves. I’m sorry that your options are as limited as they are, but change is necessary.”Another impossible choice with only one answer. Byleth would never have chosen for Rhea to take her in when her father had died if she’d had a choice or been in a position to decide. She hadn’t chosen for Rhea to use Byleth’s talents as Rhea had. There had been things that she’d been forced to do, people she had harmed, who she hadn’t even known, who she never would have hurt if she’d been safe to choose her own actions.With Rhea, it had always felt like an obligation that she couldn't escape. Rhea’s words had been soft and tender, but edged with steel. She didn’t have a choice then or now, but unlike Rhea, Edelgard was truthful about it.—Cyberpunk genre AU. Byleth finds a new path that she wouldn't have considered before.Ships TBA
Relationships: Jeritza von Hrym/My Unit | Byleth
Kudos: 15





	1. You’ve Been Hanging With The Unloved Kids

Byleth inhaled deeply, following the path that Rhea had plotted for her. She watched as the details on her HUD as she moved down the street— Five blocks down, three to the right from there, two floors up.. 

If anyone asked why she was there, she was to say that she was visiting family. If no one asked, she’d go up to the tenth floor. The cameras would be down as long as she arrived exactly on time— 7:35. It would be dark enough for her to move to the side of the building and up to the eleventh floor suite. Getting the window open would be her own responsibility, and her target should be there by then. 

_“You know better than to be overconfident here, of all places.”_

Byleth ignored the voice in her head.

Edelgard von Hresvelg, age 21 and heir to the Hresvelg family fortune and weapons company, extreme vocal opponent of the Church of Seiros, would be arriving home soon at her weekly residence, and if all went well, would be dead before midnight. This needed to go right—but if death didn’t take the first time, Byleth knew she had at least three chances to make it so.

It was easy to meander down the street, green locks tightly braided and tucked under her cap, air filter obscuring most of her lower face. The glasses were new tech, purchased from an Alliance vendor Rhea had locked down a few months before, providing her any guidance she might need. 

Everything was better in this part of town, with more regulations imposed on air traffic.Byleth knew that the buildings around her would only grow more exquisite the farther in she went. This was where the upper class lived, and no expense was spared. There were remnants of old architecture here, bits and pieces remaining from a nearly forgotten age where Enbarr had been far less modern. There was an opera house with an ancient and carefully maintained facade Byleth had passed when she’d first checked in at the hotel she’d spent the previous night at. It’s exterior had reminded her of the stones of Garreg Mach, making her wonder if it held any secrets similar to the ancient cathedral she hailed from. 

Rhea worked from under Garreg Mach because it was their Divine Right. Rhea had made her beliefs clear, but Byleth knew that using Garreg Mach as their base lent the cult of Seiros both credibility and safety. 

_“Rhea certainly does seem to think she knows what she’s doing with all this.”_

The streets here were busy with individuals traveling home from work or out for an evening in the upper streets. Beggars wouldn’t be seen here, and Byleth didn’t doubt that anyone who might attempt to panhandle here would rapidly be moved elsewhere. 

She should fit in, but she’d still do well to keep her head down for now. Her clothes for the mission were carefully chosen—well made if anyone chose to examine them, but just as carefully picked out to not stand out in a crowd. 

The target building was shorter than its surroundings, more than ample space between itself and its neighbors. It was an example of older architecture, far more dated than the chrome monoliths that dotted the city now. Byleth approached the entrance she’d been directed to, punching in the entry code. As she entered, a phone buzzed in her pocket, reacting to her location. 

Byleth picked it up, answering with the scripted words as she entered the door.

“Yes, mother, I’m nearly there. We’re meeting up and then heading out.” 

She nodded to the man at the front desk, noting that the lounge was empty except for the doorkeeper. She moved to the elevator, punching in the button for the tenth floor. 

The doors closed quickly, and Byleth waited in silence until the fourth floor. A young man with bright blue hair entered, smiling to her as he did.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before!” He said brightly, offering her a hand. 

After a moment, Byleth shook it. 

“I am visiting my cousin.”

_“You could be a little more expressive.”_

“Sounds nice!” He nodded, then released her hand, exiting the elevator on the next floor. 

Byleth nodded in return to him as he left.

The rest of the ride to the tenth floor was quiet, and Byleth stepped off at 7:34. She made her way towards the door to room 710, preparing to knock on the room she knew to be empty, stopping only when the text flashed across her glasses, alerting her to the fact that the cameras were down.

This was it, then. Byleth nodded to herself and moved rapidly to the window on the far side of the hall. She examined it and the attached alarm before screwing the cover off. Byleth carefully snipped the correct wire before pressing the cover on again. They’d undoubtedly know about that far sooner than later, so she pressed against the window, popping it open and stepped onto the shallow ledge there.

She edged along the outer wall till she reached the fire escape, climbing on. It did seem odd that Edelgard’s current residence would be a building this easy to infiltrate, but Byleth supposed that they hadn’t expected anyone to know where she’d be now.

Byleth quickly clambered up the stairs, taking a fraction of a moment to jump and grab the ladder above, pulling it down. She now crouched by the penthouse window, noting that her view was blocked by curtains. 

This first run would be a test, then. 

_“I still insist that such cavalier behavior is a waste of my powers.”_

Byleth slipped a hand into her carefully chosen bag, extracting a pair of pliers, slipping on a pair of gloves. She grasped the pliers tightly before jamming them into the window with every ounce of her enhanced strength, forcing the tip inwards.

To her pleasure, a network of cracks ran through the window and Byleth forced her gloved hand into it, shoving the glass inwards, gabbing the curtain and tearing it down. 

She vaulted in, taking in the darkened room, plush carpet under her feet dotted with glass, making it two steps forwards before a door across the room swung open, light spilling into the room.

A tall man with dark hair who Byleth recognized from a dossier Rhea uploaded to her would be Hubert von Vestra, and her first obstacle tonight. Edelgard would not be alone, it seemed. That would explain why the apartment had been so seemingly unprotected.

Without a moment of hesitation, Byleth hurled the pliers at him, watching as they embedded in his shoulder, charging forwards to tackle him to the ground even as she saw him draw a knife. 

All she needed to do this try was to find Edelgard. Anything else could come next time.

Byleth reached for the pliers, twisting them further into Hubert’s shoulder, his own actions a fraction of a second behind hers as he slashed upwards with his knife. Byleth caught the blade with her gloved hand, flinching as it sliced through the leather, narrowly preventing it from sinking into her chest. 

Still, an instant later, numbness began to set into her hand. A curse of her vestiges of humanity, perhaps, that something like a poison might yet affect parts of her.

_“Sothis, see if you can tell me what that is.”_

_“_ _Poison_ _, idiot. I’ll do what I can.”_

She’d need to remember that. Poisoned knife on Hubert. It’d be easiest to take care of him before Edelgard, but she needed to know who else was here first. 

Byleth curled her other hand into a first, striking Hubert’s face as he yanked his knife out of her grasp, pulling it back towards him. Byleth’s fist met his face, and there was a sharp crack of bone and an involuntary noise of pain from Hubert as she did. 

Byleth vaulted over and away from Hubert, entering the room he came from. Even as she did, a bullet struck her in the side and sent her tumbling forwards. She looked up, and as she did, she saw Edelgard von Hresvelg for a fraction of an instant before another bullet was fired into her chest before Sothis dragged them back. 

—

Byleth crouched outside the window again, breathing heavily. She glanced down at her hands, checking that the leather of the gloves was unbroken. She patted where the bullets had struck, checking the spots out of habit.

_“Be more careful this time.”_

_“I will.”_

This would be her second chance. Byleth pulled the ornate hilt from her bag, clipping it to her waist after making sure the whip was properly coiled. She didn’t waste any time shattering the window before she moved in. This time, when Hubert opened the door, she was waiting for him with a well placed kick to the groin. As he stumbled, Byleth drove the pliers into his skull and let him fall. 

“You bitch!”

Byleth heard Edelgard yell, spinning on her feet to face the other woman. The bullet was fired again, but this time Byleth dove to the ground, clipping the hilt off and swiping the electrified cord at Edelgard. It caught the other woman’s ankles, and Byleth jerked Edelgard forwards and off of her feet. Edelgard went down hard. Byleth scrabbled towards her, still on the ground, before pulling the whip back and swinging again. 

This was taking too long, but she’s closer now to her goal. 

Edelgard took the hit flinching, but for the damage the electricity should have been doing, something was wrong. Edelgard fired the gun again at Byleth.

“You needed to get this right this time.”

“Still can—”

But then Edelgard slammed her fist into Byleth’s stomach before firing again into Byleth’s chest, sparks emerging from ruined wires, and Sothis drug them back again.

—

Byleth couldn’t seem to focus on her hands for a moment as she remembered where she was. 

_“You’re not getting another try after this.”_

“Got it this time.”

_“Be careful, for my_ _sake. You’re not the only one who’d die here.”_

“Can’t go back unless I do it. Rhea trusts me.”

Byleth could feel Sothis as she fumed at that, but she knew it was time to move. This would be her final plan.

This time, when she shattered the window, she moved to the side of the door Hubert would enter through, and when he did, she didn’t kill him immediately. She knew where his knife was, and she knew she was physically stronger. She kicked, hard, in rapid succession, then grabbed him when he hunched. Byleth pulled his knife she’d seen before before his hands could go for it, then waited for a fraction of a moment.

Byleth held him before her, knife pressed to his throat.

It would be too easy to kill him now, to slit his throat, but if Edelgard cared for him, then this would be enough to make her hesitate. 

“You—” Hubert hissed at Byleth as Edelgard moved into the room, gun drawn and pointed at Byleth and Hubert before her. “My Lady— Step back—” Hubert forced the words out as Byleth drew back her arm, preparing to throw his knife, but then—

Something exploded above her at a small gesture from Hubert’s hand. Something Byleth had missed. 

“Take us back—” Byleth ordered Sothis as she saw the roof above her begin to cave. 

_“I can’t do that now!”_

A chunk of plaster fell onto her, and Byleth braced herself for what might come next. Something slammed into her shoulder, and Byleth staggered. Hubert took advantage of that to break away, kicking out at her foot as he did.

That, combined with the force of something slamming into her back, was enough to send her to the ground. Something pinned her down, face pressed against the glass shattered in the carpet.

She watched as Hubert began to crawl towards Edelgard. 

“Sothis—now.” Byleth said. She strained against whatever had fallen, trying to free herself. “I need one more try.”

Edelgard’s gun was pointed at her again

Byleth felt something tear in her left arm as she struggled to free herself. A bullet slammed into her shoulder, but she didn’t cry out. Something was sparking, and her air filter had fallen askew.

“Sothis— I’m sorry I—”

_“I will not be leaving you now. You and I are one and the same.”_

Another bullet. This one hit something important, and the world around Byleth went hazy.

_“I’m sorry for this, Byleth. I’ll do what I....”_

—


	2. Better to Be Hated Than Loved For What You’re Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A choice is made for Byleth.

_Byleth regained awareness in the dark. There was no light, and Byleth felt nothing, and so she waited._

_If she was still present, then they must have been trying to reboot her. For what? An attempt to pull Sothis from her mind? Rhea had warned her of what would take place if she was caught_ _~~if she ran~~ _ _, what they would do to her in order to take Sothis and the technology Byleth’s body held. Byleth would cease to exist, and Sothis would be taken by those who would misuse her._

_Byleth waited for Sothis to form before her, settling down to sit in the darkness of her mind, arms wrapped around her legs. Slowly, eventually, Sothis appeared, her image pixelated and flickering._

_“What were you thinking?” Sothis began, speaking abruptly._

_Byleth didn’t answer._

_“Of all the idiots— They’ve been trying to reactivate you, and I can only delay them for so long. I won’t be able to help you. Too much of my power is going to be going to keep you—us— safe from their programs.” Sothis glowered at her, hands on her hips._

_Byleth could tell that there was something Sothis didn’t want to say, but she didn’t push her._

_“You need to wake up as soon as you’re ready. This will not be easy.” Sothis eventually continued._

_Byleth sat silently for a moment._

_“I can be ready, then.”_

_“Then wake up.”_

Byleth’s eyes shot open. The light that met her eyes was uncomfortably bright, the air stagnant as she inhaled. A basic attempt to shift told her that she’d been restrained, so she waited silently, taking stock of what systems were out of commission. Her left arm refused to move, and a quick glance revealed a mess of exposed cybernetics and wires. She quickly tightened her right hand, reassured that it at least was still functioning. 

Her spine, modified as it was, felt like someone had dropped a roof on it. That made sense.

After a few minutes in silence, a noise at the door drew her attention. An unfamiliar man entered, moving to skulk in the corner. He stared at Byleth, and she tilted her head forward to stare back, cataloging his appearance. Smooth blonde hair, mask— the hint of something metallic under it— and a refusal to look away from Byleth seemed to be his defining traits.

Byleth didn’t speak, and they both waited in silence. 

A few moments later the door opened again and Hubert von Vestra limped into the room, one of his arms in a sling. There was a nasty purpling of bruises spotted along his face that accompanied the glare he sent at Byleth. 

“Jeritza.” Hubert nodded to the man in the corner. “I appreciate your willingness to be here.”

Jeritza, Byleth noted, didn’t speak even now. 

Byleth waited as Hubert stalked towards her, tilting her head to the side slightly as she watched him.

Hubert examined her arm for a few minutes before speaking. 

“Lady Edelgard has decided that you will not be destroyed.” Hubert moved behind her, continuing. “If it were up to me, you would be disposed of, but she feels that there is more that can be done and gained. She has taken an interest in you.”

The revelation that Edelgard did not intend to dispose of her was... perplexing to Byleth.. 

“Should you harm her in any way, I will assure you that you will be destroyed. If you can feel pain, I will ensure that you will feel it for any damage you cause to her. For now, you will remain here. Do you understand?”

Byleth didn’t answer.

Hubert moved again, returning to her left arm, beginning to shift through the connections that held it to her flesh. 

Byleth felt her body twitch involuntarily as Hubert settled on whatever he seemed to be looking for. 

This would be difficult, but Byleth was familiar with pain. The process of changing and upgrading cybernetics wasn’t an easy one, and she’d experienced more than her fair share over the years.

“I asked you a question. Do you understand?” Hubert pressed something into the inactive wires of her arm at the base of the implant.

Byleth exhaled sharply, involuntarily pressing against the restraints. 

That would be their method of understanding then. A prompt and easy truth from Byleth, and their conversations would be painless. Otherwise, there would be consequences.

“I understand.” She replied evenly. “Am I a hostage?”

“Perhaps. Rhea would undoubtedly do much to prevent others from knowing what her creation attempted to do.”

Byleth nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Do you think this is a joke?”

“No.”

“Who gave you the information on where to find Lady Edelgard?”

Jeritza edged closer. 

“I don’t know.” Byleth lied.

“You are, at least, partially human.” Hubert continued.

Jeritza took up a post by her feet, his gaze intently directed at Byleth. Byleth glanced at him, then back to Hubert. There was no reason for her to lie to that. It would have been easy enough to discover that statement to be true.

“True.”

“Then you can feel pain, like a human.”

“Let me.” Jeritza finally spoke, with a yearning in his voice that stirred something uncomfortable in Byleth. 

“If you two have this without me, then I’ll just go.” A green haired man entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Jeritza slunk back to his corner at the newcomer's appearance. Hubert remained where he stood.

“Linhardt. You’re late.” Hubert hissed at the man.

“I forgot what time it was.” Linhardt shrugged and made his way across the room. He nudged Hubert away, deftly stepping in. “And you didn’t send me a message till I was already asleep last night.”

“I called at 4:30.”

Linhardt shrugged. “I was asleep.” He looked over to Jeritza, then back to Hubert. “Is he going to be staying?”

“Jeritza will be accompanying you for now until we know the full risks of working with...this.” Hubert gestured to Byleth, who continued to watch them all silently. 

“Fine.” Linhardt shrugged. Byleth noted how he looked back to Jeritza, seemingly taking the other man in. “I can work with that.”

This seemed to be enough information for Linhardt as he zeroed in on Byleth. 

“You’re aware currently, correct?”

Byleth nodded.

“Hubert, I looked at the diagnostics on the way over.” Linhardt didn’t look away from Byleth, poking his way around the exposed cybernetics. He examined an exposed panel on her chest and the dents the bullets had left in it as he continued “I’d say we have an AI here, but things don’t line up correctly with the results that we should be seeing.”

So they were likely aware of Sothis.

“What is it?” Hubert asked.

“I don’t know, yet.” Linhardt replied. “I’ll need a day or two to tell. Jeritza, you can fetch what I need.”

That brought forth a hiss from the man in the corner. A glare from Hubert silenced any forthcoming words from Jeritza, and he remained silence.

“The reports said there was some difficulty with the reboot?”

“Yes.”

“Do you need to eat?” Linhardt looked to Byleth. 

“No.”

“So close to a full replacement of all internal systems.” Linhardt made his way over to her right hand, examining the flesh there. “This is organic. Grown, or yours?”

“Mine.”

“She has no reason to tell you the truth.” Hubert started from where he followed Linhardt. “I should not need to remind you that you can’t trust what she tells you.”

Linhardt rolled his eyes. “Yes, Hubert, I know. In fact, why don’t you go rest? I don’t doubt that you’ve been up for far too long, and you know I’m not going to be able to run tests if I have to cart you out.”

Hubert seethed from behind Linhardt, but when the other man showed no sign of paying him any more attention, he stalked to the door. 

“I will return when she arrives.”

Linhardt gave Hubert a lazy wave before speaking to Byleth again.

“How do you keep this healthy?” He gestured to her hand. 

“Internal condensed nutrient pack. Won’t need to be replaced for a month or so.” That was something that he could check and confirm with basic tests, so Byleth saw no issue revealing it.

“You’d need water for that.”

“I do drink.”

“Seems like a waste of resources not to just replace it.” Linhardt moved his hand up her arm briskly, eventually reaching the point where flesh transitioned into carefully disguised machine. “Seems well done. I assume it’s all custom?”

That seemed like another question that he would already know the answer to or could easily discover, so Byleth answered. 

“Yes.”

“Jeritza’s are custom.” Linhardt waved a thumb at the man lurking in the corner. “I’ve worked on him for a few years now.”

Byleth tilted her head at Jeritza.

Jeritza glared back at her.

“Hubert— and some of my other colleagues— are or will be— under the opinion that, despite what organic parts you still have, your mind is not organic or belonging to whoever first inhabited this body.” Linhardt continued, moving on to look at the areas where the prosthetic skin had been peeled back. “I’m not sure. I am fascinated by the readings I glanced at on the way over. If this—”, he paused, yawning, “—if this is what I think it might be, it could provide new information that could be most interesting.

“We’ll need to hook you up to the system and do some scans, but I’ve worked on Jeritza. What we learn from you could help him, and others.” Linhardt yawned yet again. “Jeritza, could you get me a coffee? I’m going to need to stay awake for this.”

“I was told to stay.”

“And Hubert said you’d get what I need.”

Jeritza seemed more than a little agitated at what Linhardt said, but he obliged, stalking to the door and out. 

“That’s better. I thought that we should talk privately before this goes any further.”

Byleth looked at Linhardt and waited.

“If what I saw is accurate, then you have an AI implanted in what was your mind. The readings weren’t accurate with what I’ve seen in cases before, and we need to know what’s happening.

“Jeritza is in somewhat of a similar situation. There is an AI in his mind that he shares control with. The transition was not peaceful. They have learned to... cooperate, but when Edelgard discovered and took him in, he was in desperate need of help. I am hoping to learn more about your case and what your experience has been.”

“I...won’t tell you about her.” 

“I don’t expect you to share information freely, but I believe that with time and effort you might change your mind.”

“Why?”

Linhardt exhaled heavily. “Hubert will try to force it out of you, and there are others, who, if they knew you were here, would want to do much harsher things in order to extract what they want to know about Rhea and what she created. I want to help you as much as I want to learn.”

_“That is the second time they have said Rhea created you.”_

“What happens when I don’t cooperate?”

Linhardt frowned for a moment before his expression settled again. 

“I turn you over to them. I will observe, but it will not be pleasant for either of us. Jeritza’s passenger will see you as a challenge to his well being, and I do not doubt that he will try to harm you. It will not be in my place to help you then.”

“I...can’t tell you.” Byleth stated slowly. Rhea would know if she betrayed her, and Byleth supposed that Rhea would try to retrieve her eventually.

Linhardt exhaled, then turned to the door as it swung open. Jeritza thrust a cup of something at Linhardt, who took it from him, looked at it, then took a sip. He swallowed, then exhaled deeply. 

“You’re going to need to go get Hubert.”

“Edelgard has arrived.”

“I’ll get them myself.” Linhardt moved to the door. “Think about what I said. I do want to help you.”

The door clicked shut behind Linhardt as he left. 

Byleth stared up at the ceiling.

_“Sothis?”_

_“I can’t help you here.”_

_“Why?”_

_“They’re going to hurt you to understand me.”_

Byleth sat in silence for a few minutes waiting, then looked towards the door as it opened.

A pale man entered the room, a mane of unkempt white hair slicked back over his head. Byleth jerked against her restraints, searching for any give she might have missed as he stepped closer.

_“This isn’t good. Byleth, can you remember?”_

“I remember you.” Byleth hissed through clenched teeth.

“Death Knight.” Jeritza straightened in the corner as the man spoke. “Ensure our privacy.”

“Thales.” Jeritza nodded, and moved to the door, exiting it as a young woman entered.

Her hair was red, skin pale with a sickening red hue that mirrored Thales’, the metallic exoskeleton and extra limbs from Byleth’s nightmares as clear as ever on Kronya. 

This was someone Byleth remembered.

“You—” Byleth forced the words out, jerking against the restraints again. “I remember both of you.”

_“Byleth, please be careful.”_

“Oh, so she does remember me! You didn’t think she would.”

As Kronya moved closer, Byleth thrashed against the restraints, fighting to pull herself free. Her left arm was as immobile as ever. There was a chance she could pull her right free, but that kind of damage would render the flesh unusable.

“I’ll kill you.” Byleth said.

“No, you won’t!” Kronya laughed. “I mean, you really fucked up.”

Byleth could ask Sothis to take her back. She could go back, and tell Linhardt whatever it took to keep him there, get herself out, and then she’d do what she had to in order to keep herself alive and kill Kronya.

Kronya moved behind Byleth, roughly jerking Byleth’s head forwards and up.

“You are of more use to us dead than alive.” Thales spoke as he moved to assist Kronya, dragging a hand over Byleth’s shoulder. 

_“Sothis, I need you to take me back.”_

_“I will, but not yet. You need to find out exactly what they say need from you.”_

“Why are you doing this?” Byleth asked, jerking her head to the side in an attempt to free it from Kronya’s grasp.

“Your passenger is worth more to us than you could ever fathom.” Thales stated. “You are, to us, an inconvenience. You will die, and we will rise again.”

_“I’m...so sorry.”_

“Slow, or fast?” Kronya asked Thales.

“My dear, it will need to be quick this time.”

Byleth’s mind blinked back to another time—Kronya’s laughter echoing as she she stood over Jeralt as he bled out as Byleth charged towards them, trying to reach him in time—

Thales had been there then. He had been the one who had stopped her from saving Jeralt when Sothis had pulled Byleth back to try again. 

Byleth would have died there that day too, but Jeralt— her father— had known from the start that something was wrong, known that their time together on the run was up. The church’s troops had arrived in time to save Byleth that day— but not her father.

Byleth screamed as Kronya jammed her metallic fingers into her chest, forcing their way past artificial and real flesh, reaching for Byleth’s core.

Someone was pounding on the door. 

_“I’m so sorry. I’m taking you back. I think I know what I need to do now.”_

The world twisted around Byleth as she screamed, then recondensed. 

“...don’t doubt that you’ve been up for…”

Byleth grabbed onto Linhardt’s hand as he examined hers, clenching it as she gasped for air. 

“—what— Hubert, wait.”

_“Hubert is still here. You need to be careful. Let me help you breathe.”_

Byleth stared forward. Her chest ached yet again, phantom pains echoing where Kronya had tore through her.

What could she say? Linhardt had implied that those who would harm her wouldn’t know she was here—yet. Byleth couldn’t tell them how she knew what she did. 

_“Lie, you fool. Make something up.”_

Lying was not something Byleth was good at. 

_“Try.”_

“You are allied with—” Byleth coughed. “With Kronya.”

She looked to Hubert as Sothis slowed her breathing, forcing her to relax. 

Hubert looked at her sharply. Linhardt glanced to Hubert from where he’d frozen, waiting, as Byleth clung to his hand.

“Then the church is aware of our allies.” Hubert frowned from where he hovered, waiting. 

“Not them. Me.” Byleth said. “Faced her before.”

“What do you know?” Hubert asked, looming closer. 

“Hubert, please step back.” Linhardt said, frowning. “This— Jeritza, I need my equipment. I need the readings from last night.” He looked to Byleth. “What changed?”

“No.” Hubert interjected. “No one else comes into this room or leaves till Edelgard is here. Jeritza, sit.”

“I don’t answer to you.” Jeritza hissed back at Hubert.

“Then fucking stand.” Hubert turned on Jeritza. “You will not leave this room until she is here.” 

Byleth tugged on Linhardt’s hand, trying to pull him closer. He obliged after a moment, edging closer to her.

“They know—” Byleth paused. “They will know that I am here. They will kill me. I need you to help me.”

Linhardt scrutinized her for a moment, then turned to Hubert. “It wouldn’t hurt to oblige her for now.”

“I have no reason to trust what she says.” Hubert growled at him. 

“I will tell you who leaked Edelgard’s location.” Byleth proffered, thinking quickly. “They know I am here.”

“A trade seems fair.” Linhardt mused.

Hubert studied her for a moment. 

“Who?”

“There was a member of her security detail. Said he was dissatisfied by the death caused by the latest weapon designs.”

“I need a name.” Hubert said, reaching into an inner pocket and extracting a datapad. “And proof.”

_“Sothis, what was his name?”_

_“Went by Garth Vredemen.”_

“Said his name with Garth Vredemen.”

“And proof?” Hubert was rapidly typing out a message. 

Byleth thought for a moment.

_“I have dates of the messages sent and from what accounts. They can check for that.”_

“I will tell you when he sent the message and from where.”

“Are they on record?” Linhardt asked. “If you give me access I could extract them.”

_“I will give them what they need to see if they listen to you.”_

“I can do that.” Byleth stated. 

The door swung open. Byleth released Linhardt’s hand, prepared to do whatever she had to to pull it out, to try to defend herself, but the woman who entered was not who she expected to see.

“I came as soon as I could.” Edelgard von Hresvelg had entered the room, rapidly taking in the scene before her. 

“She’s aware of Kronya—” Hubert looked pointedly to Edelgard. “—and has agreed to trade information in exchange for our listening to her ravings about being in danger.”

Byleth frowned. 

_“You need to convince her. If she believes you, they will eventually. You must convince her to trust you.”_

“They will know I am here.” Byleth stated slowly. “Kronya, and Thales.”

Edelgard studied her for a moment before speaking. “If you’re sure they’re here and that I’m allied with them, why would you believe that we would shield you after what you did?”

The reason for that, Byleth knew, was what Linhardt had said before she’d been forced to pull back time, but how could she explain that?

Byleth was silent for a long moment, trying to find the right words.

“Hubert said you wanted me alive.” She said. “I won’t be if they take what they want.”

“The AI.” Edelgard nodded.

That wasn’t all they would want from her, Byleth knew, but she had her secrets to keep.

Why did Edelgard want her alive?

“Hubert, I need to talk to our guest.” Edelgard stated. “Would you mind making sure no one disturbs us here?”

“I won’t leave you alone here.” 

“Hubert, you are the only one I can trust to do this.” Edelgard nodded to him, carefully pressing a gloved hand to his unhurt arm. “Jeritza and Linhardt will be outside the door.”

Hubert glowered at Edelgard for a moment more, then nodded. 

“Thank you. Linhardt, Jeritza, if you would wait outside.” Edelgard said.

Linhardt shrugged. “I want to know if you learn anything.” He moved to and out the door, followed shortly by a silent Jeritza. 

“Hubert, go now. If they are on their way, I’ll need you to head them off till I’m done.” Edelgard ordered. 

Hubert’s glare did not lessen, but he obeyed. 

Byleth stared at Edelgard as the door swung closed again. She was unsure as to what to say, trying to make a plan. 

“If they remove her— The AI— I’ll die.” Byleth said.

“I have a proposition for you.” Edelgard finally stated. “But I need you to understand. If you don’t listen to what I have to say, I can’t promise we’ll be able to protect you. You seem aware of who I’m allied with, and what they could do to hurt you.”

“I can listen.” Byleth replied.

Edelgard grasped the tip of her right glove, slowly pulling it off. Beneath the glove Byleth saw shining metal. One glove came off, then the other. Edelgard held up her hands, palms forward, displaying the exposed cybernetics to Byleth. 

Edelgard’s arms were still covered by the neat red jacket she wore, but Byleth swore she could see the metallic tone continuing up her arms in the glimpse she saw up the sleeves. 

Byleth didn’t speak, waiting for Edelgard to continue. 

“If you will tell us what Rhea and the church know about human enhancement, I can protect you. I swear I will do everything in my power to prevent you from being harmed here. If you join with me, I will keep you safe.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you.” Byleth stated. 

“I don’t know if you have a choice, and I’m sorry for that.” Edelgard said firmly. “You need to decide.”

“Why would you be sorry for that?” Byleth asked. 

Edelgard didn’t speak for a long moment. Her words were stiff and formal when she continued. 

“We all have choices that we don’t get to make for ourselves. I’m sorry that your options are as limited as they are, but change is necessary.”

Another impossible choice with only one answer. Byleth would never have chosen for Rhea to take her in when her father had died if she’d had a choice or been in a position to decide. She hadn’t chosen for Rhea to use Byleth’s talents as Rhea had. There had been things that she’d been forced to do, people she had harmed, who she hadn’t even known, who she never would have hurt if she’d been safe to choose her own actions.

With Rhea, it had always felt like an obligation that she couldn't escape. Rhea’s words had been soft and tender, but edged with steel. She didn’t have a choice then or now, but unlike Rhea, Edelgard was truthful about it. 

If Byleth had to be the unwilling attack dog of a hostile group, then she’d choose the one that was honest about that. Better an open threat than a veiled one.

Not that she had a choice. 

“What happened to your hands?”

“Something beyond my control.” Edelgard said, voice wavering for a fraction of a second before she steeled herself and continued on, formal as ever. “As many now do. I do not know all of what you know about the state of the world. I know you could help me change that. The technology we have now cannot truly help them— or me. The world we have now cannot help them either. I would have you help change it at our side.”

“I don’t know if I’ll know what you need to change it.” Byleth said.

“If nothing else, you could fight at our side.”

_“You know you can’t trust them.”_

_“Any more than I couldn’t trust Rhea?”_

“I will.” Byleth nodded.

“Thank you.” Edelgard inclined her head slightly to Byleth.

_“If you must do this, I will keep you as safe as I can.”_

There would be time for revenge later if Byleth took this path. It would take time, but if she did what she needed to do she would be able to take it against Kronya, and if all went well, she would be able to choose for herself when the time came, consequences be damned. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this mostly typed when I finished chapter one, but needed to do some serious editing. That editing in turn has led to my needing to rewrite most of what I have done of chapter three. I'll hopefully have another chapter up in a week or two, but it'll depend on how writing and editing goes. 
> 
> Ship wise, I'm currently leaning towards Edelgard/Byleth endgame, but I'm honestly not sure and it's gonna be pretty slow burn in regards to that. There will be other ships, and Edelgard/Byleth is subject to change depending on how the story goes.


	3. But You Are So Magnetic You Pick Up All the Pins

_“Byleth, what do you remember before Rhea?”_

_“Traveling with Father.”_

_“But before that— when you were younger.”_

Byleth focused, trying to remember what Sothis might be searching for.

“ _Not much.”_

_“Byleth, I fear I may have wronged you greatly.”_

_“You were always there, I think.”_

_“And I’m only realizing now what that might have done to you. The people here— they’ve spoken of you more than once as a creation of Rhea.”_

Byleth screwed her eyes shut tighter. That had confused her too, left her wondering what they had known about her.

“ _When we met Rhea, I could have sworn I knew her.” Sothis continued. “But you didn’t. I don’t think Jeralt ever mentioned her.”_

_“He never did.”_

_“We need to learn what they know. We can try to trade what we know for what they know, but we cannot trust them.”_

“You should be not kept here as such.” A voice echoed through the speaker into the room.

Byleth opened her eyes, straining slightly as she did. The current running through the floor was an ever present buzz through her, but as Edelgard had explained, it would keep her from escaping and protect her in the same blow. So long as she was forced to remain here, immobile, she would be protected from anyone who might try to harm her and didn’t have the permissions needed to deactivate the current. Hubert had ominously added to Edelgard’s words then that it could be increased should they need it to be, but Byleth had found that laying and waiting was all she could do even as it was.

Sothis was vacillating between snippy and cryptically sorrowful, and a low level headache that only dissipated when the current had been disabled to run tests was leaving Byleth an increasingly silent conversation partner for her passenger, but it now seemed that someone else had come to speak with her, so perhaps she would be able to breathe clearly for a time.

“I would see you as a worthy rival.” Jeritza, it seemed, had come to speak with her. “If you were strong enough be one.”

There was a mechanical click as the door to the room opened.

“I would have you fight me.” Jeritza’s voice came through the open door. “And prove what you could do.”

Jeritza— or the Death Knight— had been the one that Thales and Kronya had told to make sure no one interrupted them in the timeline that she’d rewound.

The current clicked off, and Byleth inhaled deeply. The door remained open.

“ _Don’t do anything stupid.”_

Byleth knew she wouldn’t be able to fight to the best of her abilities as she was currently. “ _Can you pull us back if I fail?”_

“ _I swear, you will be the death of both of us.”_

Byleth focused on her breathing as the ability to shift her functional limbs returned to her. Her left arm would be an issue,still inactive and tucked into a sling, but Byleth knew that even with her right hand she’d have a fair chance at holding her own. Jeritza was an unknown variable and one she’d been warned against, but she would try.

“ _Is this about revenge? Killing him won’t help you here.”_

Byleth rolled over onto her stomach, slowly shifting into a crouch.

She edged to the door, prepared for the current to begin again or someone to enter, but nothing stopped her. Angling herself carefully, she peered into the room outside, spotting the single individual waiting in the outer room.

Jeritza, clad in heavy protective armor, firmly holding a metal staff, was the only thing standing between her and the door.

“ _He’s going to try to kill you.”_

Byleth stepped out of the formerly electrified room.

“If you kill me, I will not stand in your way.” Jeritza said.

Byleth tensed herself, glancing around the room for anything she’d be able to use to help her, noting an unconscious technician in the corner.

“If I fail?”

“You cannot kill without knowing death.” Jeritza hissed at her, then tossed something in her direction.

Byleth moved to dodge before she saw what it was, snagging it out of the air. She uncoiled the whip that she’d lost in her initial attack.

“You will not have a choice.” Jeritza rumbled. Byleth saw something flicker behind his mask, then he charged.

“ _Move, now!”_ Sothis yelled at her.

Byleth dashed to the side, activating her whip as she moved.

“ _Focus on reaching the door!”_ Sothis ordered.

“Can’t leave with him following me.” Byleth said, dodging as the metal pole slammed down behind her.

Byleth flipped her whip out towards him as Jeritza adjusted his weight after the near miss, aiming for the pole he fought with in an attempt to disarm him. The whip connected, wrapping around the pole, and Byleth yanked on it.

Jeritza tensed at the pulse of electricity, resisting for a moment, then hurled the pipe at Byleth, still tangled in the whip.

Byleth saw the metal bar flying towards her and dropped. She heard it hit the wall behind her with a loud clang as she hit the ground at an angle, the metal floor slamming into her left shoulder.

A bust of pain hit Byleth as the already damaged connection was further shifted, and Jeritza was upon her.

“You are not ready yet.” Jeritza hissed at her, pinning her down with his body.

_“Taking us back—”_

_“Not yet.”_ Byleth thought back to Sothis. Jeritza reached for her throat, and Byleth, right arm still pinned beneath her, pressed with all she had, shifting her body under his to free her right arm.

Byleth raised the whip with her shaking hand even as Jeritza did what he could to cut off the air she still needed, reaching up and up until she reached his exposed neck, forcing the electrified whip to his skin.

Something smelled like it was burning.

Byleth stared up at Jeritza as he shuddered from the electricity. The synthetic skin the whip was pressed up against began to smoke and slough away, revealing the metallic under-workings of his jaw and neck.

The hands around her neck loosened and Byleth gasped for air as Jeritza slumped over above her.

“ _Are you going to let me take you back now?”_ Sothis asked, fuming in Byleth’s mind.

“Just need a minute.”

Jeritza groaned from beside Byleth, still half collapsed over her.

_“You know you need to take it again.”_

“All this going back ‘s been messing with my head.” Byleth forced the words out.

Byleth let the whip drop to the ground, deactivating as it fell from her hand.

“ _Byleth— we need to focus.”_

“Too hard.”

“You are talking with it?” Jeritza mumbled as he rolled to the side, away from Byleth.

“Yeah.” Byleth muttered. While before the feeling from her left arm had been absent, there was now a sharp pain that persisted even when she didn’t move.

“Let it out.”

“’s been a bad while.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Jeritza chuckled hoarsely. “Why don’t you let it talk?”

“She’s—not like that.”

“I have always been.”

“ _You are an idiot, and until you decide to be careful, I will not be encouraging you.”_

“S’ you’re not Jeritza.”

“I haven’t been Jeritza in years.” The Death Knight rasped.

“Why do you want to kill me?” Byleth asked.

“A challenge.”

“Couldn’t kill me now.” Byleth said.

“You could not kill me either.”

“’m short an arm.”

The Death Knight twitched. “Next time.”

Byleth rolled onto her right side, slowly pushing herself up to sit on the floor.

“You bleed.” The Death Knight gestured at her.

Byleth glanced down to her shoulder. The base of the arm was weeping dots of blood where something had been jarred free by her fall.

“Sometimes.”

“Good.”

Byleth watched as the Death Knight raised a slow hand to her shoulder, carefully wiping a drop of blood away. He studied it carefully on his glove for a moment, then deftly licked the drop of blood from his glove.

“I will kill you.” He said, raising his other hand to remove the mask that hid his upper face to reveal the skull-like metal below. “Or you will kill me.”

His threat was somewhat tempered by the fact that he’d yet to move from the spot where he lay.

“Th’ honesty is appreciated.” Byleth said, pulling her knees up to her chest to lean her head on them. The headache was back again.

She looked up to the door as she heard it open, watching as the Death Knight began to pull himself up.

“I’m telling you Hubert, I’m more than willing to assist with anything that you might need!” A man with long orange hair pulled into a casual ponytail strode into the room, only to freeze as he saw the sight before him.

“Ferdinand, for the last time—” Hubert followed the other man into the room, freezing as he looked in.

Byleth didn’t move, holding her legs close with her able arm.

“What the hell happened here?” Hubert hissed, descending on Byleth and the Death Knight. “What have you done?” He turned on Byleth.

“Hubert, she’s obviously hurt.” Ferdinand—the new man insisted. “And I, Ferdinand von Aegir, would never harm an enemy when they were already down!.”

“It was my doing.” The Death Knight rasped.

“You idiot.” Hubert stopped, his disgust finding a new target. “Ferdinand, watch her.” He gestured sharply at Byleth. “Jeritza, get up.”

“I am not Jeritza.”

“I don’t fucking care.” Hubert said. “Get up.”

Ferdinand draped something over Byleth’s shoulders.

The Death Knight slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Hubert, seemingly unsatisfied with his speed of movement, grabbed his shoulder and assisted in pulling the other man up.

The Death Knight was unsteady on his feet as he stood, facing Hubert.

Byleth could distantly hear Ferdinand speaking beside her.

“—thea, I need you to send Edelgard. Tell Bernadetta that we need her help, and send Caspar with her if she’s worried— Yes, yes I know that’ll only make her more worried.”

“Sothis,” Byleth whispered. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

“ _I fear I have ruined you.”_

Her shoulder hurt, and the headache was still building.

“Can you show me where it hurts?”

Byleth absently moved her hand to her injured shoulder. Whatever had been placed over her shoulders was warm, and she tugged it further on.

“Hubert, she’s bleeding.”

“Send for Linhardt as well.”

Byleth twitched as she felt someone settle down next to her, placing an arm on her unhurt shoulder

“Ferdinand— stay clear.” Hubert ordered.

“I refuse to not assist her.” Ferdinand said from beside her.

“This is why Edelgard didn’t want you here.”

“Hah! She’s merely afraid that I’ll show her up.”

That prompted a noise of frustration from Hubert. “Ferdinand, please.”

“You all care.” Byleth mumbled under her breath. “All care too much. Edelgard cares about Hubert, he cares about you.”

Byleth lifted her head, then let it loll to the side onto Ferdinand’s shoulder.

“She cares about you.” Byleth squinted at Hubert. “So much.”

“ _I’m sorry Byleth, but you need to be careful about what you say.”_ Sothis’ panic was building in the back of her mind. “ _Please. I need you to stay with me.”_

Byleth fell silent.

There was a clatter of footsteps outside the door, and Byleth opened her eyes to see a vaguely familiar young man with a shock of blue hair stumble into the room, skidding to a stop.

“Is Bernadetta with you?” Hubert asked sharply.

“I’m here!” A high voice called from a corner with a flicker of a cloaking field revealing a shorter woman before vanishing from view again.

“Escort Jeritza to his quarters, and ensure he stays.” Hubert ordered.

“I am not Jeritza.” The Death Knight insisted from where he now loomed by the door.

“We can get him.” Presumably Bernadetta piped up again. “I— uh— I can keep an eye on him too!”

“For sure!” Her companion exclaimed as Hubert glared.

That would be the man she’d seen in the elevator before—

Before.

“Hubert, I insist you tell me everything that’s been going on.” Ferdinand said. “I said I would help, but you have to trust me.”

“Did you call Linhardt?”

“I—not yet.”

“Step out.” Hubert said.

“Hubert, you need my help.” Ferdinand replied.

“Not for this. Step out.”

Ferdinand harrumphed, then stood, carefully moving his arm away from Byleth. Whatever he’d placed over her shoulders remained even as he moved out of the room.

Byleth glanced over to the technician who was still unmoving in the corner, then looked up to Hubert and waited.

“ _If he harms you, I will pull us back.”_

“Edelgard still insists that she is interested in what you might provide.” Hubert remained where he stood across the room. “I feel that you could never be trusted, no matter what you provide for us. I had thought that you might be of use to her, but I think that may not be the case.” Hubert paused, then continued. “I hope you prove me wrong.”

Byleth moved her head back to rest on her knees. “Why?”

“Because you will die if you do not prove me wrong, and I would not see Edelgard disappointed again.”

Byleth didn’t respond to that for a long moment.

“You both care for each other.” She said when she found her words.

“I will do anything for her.”

“I had someone like that once.” Byleth closed her eyes.

Hubert watched her, silent and looming.

“She’s going to tell me that this isn’t a good time or place to talk.” Byleth continued quietly. “That I shouldn’t speak.” Sothis remained silent, but Byleth could feel her lurking on the edges of her consciousness, listening.

“I couldn’t save my father.” Byleth heard Hubert shift at that. “I cared about him.”

Byleth didn’t speak again.

After a few minutes of silence, she heard the door slide open.

“She has not moved, Edelgard. I would be wary.” Hubert warned.

“With me here, that should hardly be something to worry about.” Ferdinand chirped in.

“You are a fool—” Hubert began.

“Both of you.” Edelgard interrupted. “Now isn’t the time for that.”

Byleth opened her eyes and moved to stand, tugging what seemed to be a sleek jacket that undoubtedly cost more than she and her father had ever made from a single job tighter over her shoulders.

“Edelgard, step back.” Hubert insisted.

Ferdinand moved forwards to intercept Byleth as Hubert placed himself before Edelgard, but Byleth understood what was expected.

She stood and waited, placing her able hand where it was visible. The jacket slipped off her shoulders and fell to the ground.

“Do I go back in now?” Byleth asked, looking to the room she’d been kept in.

“I would advise allowing Linhardt to run some scans to be sure nothing was disrupted by Jeritza.” Hubert stated.

“Ferdinand, you said you pinged him?” Edelgard asked.

“I did! I am afraid, however, that he may have been sleeping.”

“I will tell Caspar to fetch him when he’s done.” Hubert offered.

“Good.” Edelgard nodded.

Byleth waited silently.

“Edelgard, in the meantime—” Ferdinand began.

“—In the meantime—” Edelgard spoke over him, “—could I ask you some questions, Byleth?”

Byleth nodded.

“Good.” Edelgard glanced to Hubert. “Could you move that chair into the cell?”

Hubert nodded, moving the chair the fallen technician had undoubtedly been sitting on previously into Byleth’s room.

“Why don’t you sit for now?” Edelgard asked once Hubert had exited the room again. “That may be for the best.”

Byleth nodded wordlessly again, obliging slowly. She took a few steps forward, then paused, looking back longingly at the jacket that had fallen to the floor before continuing. She settled down into the chair slowly, staring to the open door and waiting.

The door slowly swung closed, and Byleth watched at the window as Edelgard moved to it, waiting for her to speak.

They’d already asked her so many things— some she had known the answers to, some she had not. There had been some questions that she assumed they had to already have the answers to, undoubtedly using them to verify her honesty. Edelgard had been there, listening, some of the times. Hubert was a frequent listener when she’d spoken of Rhea. Linhardt was often there when she spoke of the technology that held Byleth together. There had been other common faces as well— one of which a dark haired beauty who’s long hair and oddly out of place clothing had left Byleth feeling oddly fluttered when she’d left.

The speaker crackled for a moment, then Edelgard’s voice came clearly into the room.

“How did you come to work with Rhea?”

Byleth shuddered. They’d touched on this many times before.

“My father died.”

“How did he die?”

Byleth stared forward for a long moment, then spoke.

“We were hired to help a woman who said she’d found something and needed help recovering it.” Byleth blinked, memories drawn to the surface as she spoke. “She took us to an abandoned church. I kept watch, he went in with her.”

It had been raining that day.

“She hurt him. I didn’t know till it was too late.”

There was more to that story— Sothis had only recently started speaking with Byleth more frequently and guiding her, teaching her how to use the machinery that held her together. Byleth had been too late to help her father the first time, moving in to check on her father after communications had gone silent. She had found Monica there, still disguised, and her father, fallen.

The second time, she’d charged just too late as Monica had attacked her father. He’d fallen too quickly for a man who’d been able to take anything, and Sothis had pulled her back again.

Her last attempt had failed again.

“Something was wrong. I tried to save him, but they were there.” Thales had been there, waiting, and when Byleth had darted in a third time, he had intervened, his explosive attack sending Byleth to the ground at her father’s side, shattering something in her from the force.

“You said you knew Kronya?” Edelgard interjected.

“She killed him.” Byleth said. “And Thales— he hurt me. Stopped me from being able to save him.”

Monica had laughed and laughed, and Byleth had seen her there as Kronya, heard her speak with Thales. Byleth had crawled to her father’s side, clinging to him in an attempt to hold him there with her, but before too long he had been cold.

That was the first time she cried.

She had heard Thales and Kronya’s words then, but all too abruptly they had left, rapidly replaced by Rhea and Seteth and others of Rhea’s knights.

“And Rhea?”

“She came then.” Byleth said. “Said my father sent her a signal because he was worried something had went wrong.”

“And Rhea changed you then— took parts of you out and changed them?” Edelgard almost sounded eager.

“No.” Byleth replied. “There—When I was a child, there was a fire. My father told me— I would have died if they hadn’t tried to save me. Rhea—she did things, but I was already different.”

“How did your father know Rhea?”

Byleth thought back, trying to remember.

“He never said. She said he’d been part of her Knights before but left.” Byleth hesitated. “He didn’t ever talk about her. We didn’t go near Garreg Mach till it happened.”

There was a long moment of silence before Edelgard spoke.

“Was your AI implanted before you met Rhea?”

“She was always there.” Byleth said. “As long as I remember.”

And what she did remember was fuzzy, fragments of her childhood blurred with a lack of passion and care. She just— hadn’t cared. Until Sothis had spoken to her more, she had felt nothing.

“Do you know what her purpose was?”

She couldn’t tell them that the AI, whatever she had been meant to do, allowed her to turn back time. That would be a claim that they wouldn’t believe.

“ _And likely incentive to dissect you.”_

“I don’t know.” Byleth thought of a question she’d been pondering. “You said— they all keep saying that Rhea made her. And me.”

“How old are you, Byleth?” Edelgard asked.

“I don’t know.” Byleth stated simply. This had come up often enough in the past few years that she knew how to respond. “I don’t think we ever kept track.”

Hubert’s voice came over the speaker.

“Twenty-one years ago, there was a fire at Garreg Mach. It was suspected that it’d been set by a dissatisfied cult member. There are death records that clearly state that Jeralt Eisner died in that fire.”

Byleth tilted her head to the side, listening.

“It stands as suspicious that Rhea would not replace whatever organic parts you had left if she truly intended from the start to use you as an assassin.” Hubert continued.

“She said she didn’t me want to lose my humanity.”

“Do you know why?” Edelgard asked.

“I don’t.”

“ _I have… suspicions, but nothing at this time.”_

“Thank you for answering my questions.” Edelgard said. “Linhardt will be here soon, and then he’ll see what damage has been done. When he finishes we’ll talk about what comes next.”

Byleth nodded, waiting in silence. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna start adding some of my intended ships into the tags, but they're gonna be pretty damn slow burn, and some are only going to be temporary as the story progresses.


End file.
